Sunday, 20 November 2011

The Week in Summary

Life
Films are a source of entertainment which I love; and a period drama goes down particularly well. So last Sunday I went to see Anonymous - almost obligatory as I live near Stratford-on-Avon, home of the Bard.

The story is about Shakespeare who didn't, according to this film, write the plays attributed to him. This has caused much gnashing of teeth in Stratford, with one group going round the Warwickshire country signs, placing tape over the word 'Shakespeare's' in Shakespeare's County. As you can see here. We have a great attachement to Will Shakespeare in these parts - his birthplace is in Stratford, he's buried in the town's church - and it appears that, for some at least, the claim that he didn't write his plays is tantamount to a literary form of blasphemy. Feelings have been running high!

Not in me though. I set off with every expectation of a enjoying the evening. Derek Jacobi, Vanessa Redgrave and Sebastian Armesto are in the film, after all. And enjoy it I did. However, there are young and older versions of some characters and they are played by different actors. As I was coming down with a cold, I wasn't the sharpest tool in the box and got a bit muddled so would benefit from seeing this film again :)
Apart from that, and the fact I was distracted by the Earl of Oxford reminding me of a Peter O'Toole in his younger days, this film entertained me and gave a very believable reason why Shakespeare didn't write the plays - and who actually did.

Things got a bit snuffly after Sunday because of the cold and my evening class was cancelled because the tutor was ill. But on Friday I made it to Hidcote Manor Garden's Enchanted Evening. Seeing the garden I know so well decked out in lights was awesome. The beech alley was my favorite. You can see it in daylight here and here. It was lit by one large white light on the ground at the start of the alley, where the photos are taken from. The light reflected off the trunks, getting fainter and fainter along the length of the alley. It was as if I'd stepped into Lord of the Rings territory, and fully expected to see a silvery cavalcade of Elves thread their way between the trees.
It was breath-takingly beautiful and slightly eerie.

Writing
Not so much of this happening this week. I'm still inching forward with Lesson 19 of HTRYN but disaster struck when I lost the latest version of my short story! A big thanks to Carole, whose suggestion led to my finding the missing story saved into the wrong folder.
No, I have definitely not the sharpest tool this week :)